Botany. 457 
placed in a little strong vinegar till the lime is completely dissolved, 
then washed in pure water and examined. 
Specimens foul with mud must be cleaned in water with a 
camel’s hair brush, but this is liable to detach the globules of fruit, 
and is only occasionally to be resorted to. Should it be desirable 
to preserve bits for future reference, they are best mounted in 
glycerine-jelly, in “ cells” deep enough to avoid crushing and shal- 
low enough to permit free examination (flattened brass curtain- 
rings make excellent cells). When the jelly has dried at the edges, 
turn on a ring of white zinc cement. — T. F. en, in “ The 
2 
Characee of America. 
“ 
THE FIBRE OF THE BANAaNA.—In a report by the United 
States Consul, L. J. Du Pré, at San Salvador, Central America, 
the following statement possessing botanical as well as commercial 
interest occurs : — 
€ raw material costs only transportation to the rope-walk 
Each banana tree bears in the twelve months of its existence only 
to fifteen feet long, resting on the heads of the native women, are 
umbrellas in the rainy season in the roofless market places and 
Streets of Salvador. They are the carpets on which they sit, and 
the beds on which they repose.” 
Gray’s CONTRIBUTIONS TO AMERICAN Borany.— It is with 
melancholy interest that we note this last incomplete contribution, 
the final one of a long series, which a peared in the Proceedings of 
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. This was presented 
